Social media interventions to improve well-being

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Digital Well-being
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Growing concerns link social media use to negative well-being outcomes.
• There is a significant need for effective social media interventions.
• Self-determination theory provides a framework for understanding psychological needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel theoretical approach for designing social media interventions.
• To categorize existing interventions based on their context of application.
• To propose evidence-based design features for future interventions.

Main Methods:

• Review and categorization of current social media interventions.
• Evaluation of social media's impact on psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness) using behavioral change models.
• Development of theoretically grounded design features.

Main Results:

• Interventions were categorized by context: platforms, devices, users, families, and society.
• Social media use was analyzed for its effects on core psychological needs.
• Specific design features were proposed to enhance intervention effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• A new theoretical approach, grounded in self-determination theory, can guide the development of effective social media interventions.
• Understanding the impact on psychological needs is crucial for designing interventions.
• Recommendations provided will inform future research and practical applications for digital well-being.